Biedermeier

[ bee-der-mahy-er ]

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to a style of furnishings common in German-speaking areas in the early to middle 19th century, generally existing as a simplification of the French Directoire and Empire styles, usually executed in fruitwood with much use of matched veneers, and often displaying architectural motifs.

Biedermeier

/ ˈbiːdəˌmaɪə /

adjective

1. of or relating to a decorative and furnishing style in mid-19th-century Germany, characterized by solidity and conventionality
2. boringly conventional in outlook; bourgeois

Word History and Origins

Origin of Biedermeier¹

Named after Gottlieb Biedermeier, imaginary author of poems actually composed by various writers and published in German magazine Fliegende Blätter from 1855 on

Word History and Origins

Origin of Biedermeier¹

C19: after Gottlieb Biedermeier , a fictitious character portrayed as a conventional unimaginative bourgeois and the author of poems actually written by several satirical poets